


Sunrise (pt 1)

by TigerOfTheTundra



Series: Starlight--Paladin Talis arc 1 [4]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Darkness, Emotions, Talis doesn't know what he's doing, but otherwise its p chill, light - Freeform, sun rising, there will be a few tears, unresolved feelings (cont)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23897701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerOfTheTundra/pseuds/TigerOfTheTundra
Summary: First day of work on the docks! Got to get an early start
Series: Starlight--Paladin Talis arc 1 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681462
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Sunrise (pt 1)

Dark, a dark room. Light under the door a few feet away. Talis blinked, heart pounding as he tried to re-orient himself. It was dark… he was next to his bed… his bed? He tightened his grip on the blanket around him, as the door pounded again.

Door. His door, at the inn, someone was at his door, calling his name.

“C-come in,” he called, slowly rubbing one eye and pulling himself into the edge of the bed. The door swung open to silhouette another dragonborn, filling the lintel and light of the hall.

“Morning, my boy!” Ace shouldered his way in, hands full of two steaming mugs. “Ahh, good, you’re dressed already. Are you ready to get going? We don’t want to be late for your first day down at the docks.” Talis slowly pulled himself to his feet and accepted the warm drink. Looking down he… huh, he was dressed. He shrugged out of his blanket, pulled on the cloak Ace held out. Already Ace’s cheer made it hard to feel that groggy unease of waking. But he was definitely still waking up, even as he sipped the bitter drink and trailed after into the hallway. 

“--a bit early, I know, but--” Ace was saying, and Talis found himself nodding along. “--will be a fine one, after such a clear night.” Some part of him still felt that startled ache in his chest. What had startled him awake? He hugged the warm mug to his chest as they slipped out into the dark morning streets. A chill in the air slipped past the borrowed layers he wore, and he shivered. Ace lit a lantern. Golden firelight and woolen warmth twisted in Talis' throat, and he took a large gulp of his bitter mug to quiet it.

“Be sure to tie your shoes tight,” Ace said, startling him from his distracted daze. Talis looked down--his laces hung untied about the sides of his feet. Oh. Right. He wasn’t used to wearing shoes again… Face flush, Talis stared between the mug in his hands and his feet before kneeling. His fingers fumbled with the cheap cord. He set aside the mug, tugging and twisting the uncooperative laces. Ace shifted in place, waiting. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I’ve--” They resembled something like tied laces, and Talis quickly fumbled his way through the next shoe. There. Done, no more delays. “Sorry,” he added, hugging the cooling mug once more to his chest.

“It’s no worry, son,” Ace said, squeezing his shoulder. “I’d rather you be safe.” Talis didn’t know what to say, so he just hid his face behind the mug. He wondered distantly what the drink was, held back the face he wanted to make drinking it. They walked in early morning quiet until they reached the docks.

Others milled quietly. The air had a new tang, a clear and savory smell. Talis’ stomach growled. There was a table of food, which Ace already headed towards, but…

He could see a line of golden light, far beyond the lapping waters. His feet moved around bodies, around boxes. The blackened skies had turned grey, then pale pale blue, as the line of golden, orange, pink light only grew. He caught himself on the edge of the box before his legs gave out.

Sunlight. Sunrise, reflected on the barest tips of each rippling wave. Even the very air itself softened as that golden-pink light stretched its way up, painted the sky, the clouds. Something twisted, deep in his ribs.  _ Sunrise _ . Had he just not noticed? Paid it no heed? He crumpled onto the box beside him, drew himself inward, staring, staring up. He could feel the tears on his face. But to wipe them would jostle this moment, to break it. He couldn’t even bring himself to turn away.

“Ah, it’s quite a sight to see, isn’t it?” Ace approached so quietly, Talis hadn’t noticed. He only nodded.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered, voice hoarse.

“That it is.” Ace handed him a large bread roll. “Nothing quite like the sun rising over the water.” He settled on the crate, leaning back and eating his breakfast as if this happened every morning.

And it did.  _ It did _ . Talis smiled to himself, a wavering smile, feeling as if he’d shake apart if he so much as blinked. 

“Nothing,” he agreed, holding his breakfast and his cold ceramic mug close, staring at the golden morning glow.

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be a reoccurring short scene theme, so it's labeled "part 1". Thus, it's connected to other "Sunrise" shorts... and I don't have to think up titles for all of them X'3 I've got a couple others which will be labeled similarly to the Sunrise shorts, various reoccurring themes/scenarios that will undoubtedly crop up again and again ^^; There won't, however, be any more chapters to this--this fic is complete as is. It's just as much a stand alone as any other fic across this series
> 
> But Talis finally got to sit and enjoy the sunrise!!! With everything all happening at once, it took him a long while to realize that Sunrises Exist Again ^^ Hopefully he'll remember How To Tie His Shoes at some point... but he's got a lot on his mind rn, so whenever he gets around to it
> 
> Again, no real posting schedule, per se, but I'm aiming to get a short story up at least every two weeks, while I work on this arc's finale. I'll be sharing when I update both on Tumblr and here, so if you want to keep updated please subscribe to the Starlight series (you can subscribe to a series, right?)
> 
> Ace is not my creation, and belongs to the incredible author of all dads, Rai, at raiswanson.tumblr.com


End file.
